Denver Gem and Mineral Show 2015

12 September 2015

Hello and welcome to our show report from Denver 2015.

The first part of the show report will feature the Denver Fine Mineral Show organised by Dave Waisman and his wife Cathy. The show is held on the edge of Denver in the city of Golden, Colorado on the foot of the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

All ready to go, organiser Dave Waisman and his wife Cathy worked hard to get the Fine Mineral Show up and running!

We shipped quite a lot of minerals over from our offices in the UK to make sure all our 8 cabinets and 4 drawer units are filled.

Ian sorting through our boxes - making his choice of display specimens.

A final check from Ian that all the drawers are filled.

We brought a great selection of fine minerals with us to Denver this year. From Classics, to the finest new finds from Brazil to the newest specimens from recently acquired collections in Europe. Thanks to the help of Liz and Dave Hacker we had a smooth setup and our rooms were ready for business ahead of schedule.

New Crystal Classics signs on top of our cases worked out really well.

One of our 8 cabinets. This one has a great selection of Tsumeb,Namibia and African specimens on display.

In our 4 drawers we have a selection of gem minerals as well as European classics, rarities from Namibia and various world wide localities.

Outside our two rooms 225 & 227 in the Marriott Denver West, Golden, Colorado - early morning of the Opening Day. It is peaceful and quiet in the Hotel, but that was soon to change...

...the car park was filled and customers streamed into the Hotel.

The hallways were crowded and it was hard to get anywhere quickly.

Ian and Dave manned room 225.

Here are a first few tasters of mineral specimens we brought to the show here in Colorado.

This is such a striking blue Azurite with little Malachites after Cuprite sprinkled over it - form the famous locality in Bisbee, Warren District, Mule Mountains, Cochise Co., USA

On Sunday the 13th September, the day after the opening of the Fine Mineral Show, up in Golden, Collectors Edge hosted a nice evening event that gave collectors and dealers a chance to chat over a glass of wine. The event was well attended and the prize draw at the end of the evening - where 3 guests were able to win a specimen donated from Collectors Edge, was a great success.

The next two show days at the Marriott Denver West seemed like a whirlwind and were over in no time. With the help of David and Liz Hacker, Penny Williamson and Paul Carr the two rooms were packed up in no time. Before it was time to set up the Main Show at the Merchandise Mart we had a "free" day to rest a little and attend the Colorado School of Mines evening.

A great case with Amazonites and Smoky Quartz specimens recently mined from the Pikes Peak, Batholith Park, Colorado.

Another great specimen on display at the Colorado School of Mines was this Beryl var. Aquamarine from Diane's pocket, Claire Mary Ellen Claim, Mount Antero, Chaffee Co., Colorado - On loan from Bruce and Cody Oreck.

Ian and Kerith Greaber in front of her display case at the Colorado School of Mines.

Each year there are private collectors cases featured and this year a good friend of ours Cal and Kerith Greaber put together a case of minerals from Mexico. It was a great colourful case with some eye catching miniature specimens - some probably best of species.

A closer look into the case from Cal and Kerith Greaber.

On Thursday it was time to set up our Main Show booth. With double the size from last year we had to be all hands on deck to get everything ready in just one day. With 8 cases and 6 drawers we had a lot of minerals to display.

The finished booth with a selection of over a thousand specimens from worldwide localities. We brought the finest minerals from our recently purchase collections in Europe. With cabinets featuring specimens from Tsumeb, Namibia, Austria, England, France, various US localities and may more.

One of our cases showing a great variety of UK Fluorites and Pyromorphites from France next to many other classics specimens.

We have such a large selection of minerals from the famous Tsumeb mine that we filled more than two of our show cases with some of the recently acquired specimens.

Another case at our booth filled with specimens from North and South America, including some great Glove Mine Wulfenites and a large display specimen of Ferberite from Bolivia.

We had a great show in Denver and the weather this year was very kind to us with warm and sunny days. We are looking forward to next years event.

Now that we are back in the UK, we are preparing for the next big show in Munich from the 30th of October to the 1st of November. We are looking forward to seeing you all there.